Reversibly-operable hand-brake



w. A. GEIGER. REVERSIBLY OPERABLE HAND BRAKE,

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12, 1920.

6 n H 1 W m w u w i n z W A m, a I. M,

M u a a n U Z b W m H F 0 1/ v P W WILLIAM A. GEIGER, or CHICAGO,rumors, ASSIGNOR T WILLIAM E. MINER, or

CHAZY, NEW YORK.

REVEBSIBLY-OPERABLE HAN D-BRAKE.

. Application filed July 12,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. GE GER, a citizen of the United States,resldlng at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Reversibly-OperableHand-Brakes, or which the following is a f full,. clear, concise, andexactv description,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of'thisspecifica- .tion.v I

be so located as'to call for what is known as'a lefthand operation asdistinguished 'trom the usual socalled righthand operation. Obviously,additional expense would be incurred both'by the manufacturers and therailroads if both right and lefthand types of brake parts were requiredto be erative -position."Fig.3 is a vertical sectional viewcorresponding substantially to'the line obviate the necessitymanufactured and kept in stock since this would involve greater overheadin carrying thedifferent types of brakes.

of brake suitable for railway cars-wherein 'thepartsare' so designedthat they'may be assembled to permit operation of the brake either as arighthand or lefthand brake'to thereby minimize costv of manufacture andof carrying two difierent sets ofparts .in'stockf I In'the drawingforming a part ofthis type ofhand brake for railway cars showing my improv'ements in connection therewith, the arrangement being that whereinthe brake is adapted for the usual righthand operation. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 22 ofFig.1 exceptthat theoperating handle and pawl are shown intheirhorizontal op- 3-3 of F And Fig. 4 is. a viewsimilar to Fig. 2'but'illustrating the arrangement of theparts when the brakeis assembledfor l'efthand operation.

In saiddrawing, 10 indicates a portion of a vertical brake stair, theupper end of which is-inade square or of other nonec'ircularsection asindicated 1'1. Det achably v Specification of Letters Patent. Patented19. The plate 21 is The object of m invention is to provide:

1920. serial No. 395,429.'

Sept. 20, 1 921 associated with the squared section 11 is a ratchetwheel 12 having du licated upper and lower journal sections 13 and. anintermediate peripherally arranged set of ratchet teeth-14.

supported on the lower wall 15 of a combined housing and bracket161which is adapted to be riveted or otherwise rigidlysecured tothe-wall 17 of theicar. Saidlower wall UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. .60 The lower end ofrthe ratchet wheel 12 is 15 of the bracket isprovidedwith a deipending annular flange 18 recessed to form a suitablebearing for thecorresponding end of the ratchet wheel 12. The bracket16, as clearlyindicated in Fig. 2,'is provided with spaced laterallyextended walls 1919 which help to inclose the various parts of theratcheting mechanism. E'ach ofsaid walls 19-19 is provided .with'anopenin 20 for the purpose'herein'after indicated. lhe top .of thehousing istormed bya plate 21 having suitable depending side walls 22 22.(see Fig. 3) which restupon'the sidewalls held imposition by the boltand nut23. V 'Oscillatably mounted on the upper journal13 provided bythe ratchet wheel 12, is a carrier 24 having .an annular bearing 25formed therein as'fshown in Fig. 1.v In addition, the carrier 24isprovided with a laterally extended pair'of parallel arms 26;26 unitedat thetops' by a curi ed'fweb 27,- thus forming a'housingfor the upperend of the operating handle or lever 28. and the pawl 29. The .carrier24 is provided with a substantially circular downwardly extending.flange 30' which 'envelops the ratchet wheel, said flange being slottedthrough substantially an arc'ot1l80 .as indicated at 31' to permitoscillation thereof with .respect to the locking dog, hereinafter itdescribed. With the arrangement described, consisting of the bracket 16,plate'2l and carrier 24, it is evident that the ratchet tected from theweatherand dirt or other spring 33 is i cally operative position withrespect to the lever 28. The pawl 29 is held in assembled relation withthe handle 28 and the latter is pivotally attached to the carrier 24 bymeans of a common bolt 34 which is carried by the flanges 26 of thecarrier and extends through suitable perforations in the handle andthrough the elongated slot 35 of the pawl. *As will be understood bythose skilled in the'art, the handle 28 will drop toa depending verticalposition under the influence of gravity when released by the brakeman.By elevating the same to the horizontal position indicated by the dottedlines in Fig. 1, the teeth 135 of the pawl are brought into operativerelation with the teeth 14 of the ratchet wheel 12 and the rotation ofthe staff and winding of they brake chain is effected by swinging thehandle 28 back and'forth inahorizontal plane.

'To prevent accidental reverse rotation of the staff 10 and consequentlyloosening of the brake chain, the locking d0g'36, is employed, the samehaving a release handle 37 and a tooth 38. The dog 36 is pivotallymounted on the bolt 23 and'is supported 1n its proper horizontalposition by means of .a small ledge or v with the bracket 16. controlthe position of the locking dog, a "spring lOisi used, thesame seatingatone end over .a stud 41 formed on the locking dog and over eitheroneof two "corresponding studs 42-42 formed on thebracket .16.

shelf 39 formed integrally To automatically As'shown in'Figs. 2 and 1the handle 37 of they locking dog extends to the exterior of the housingthrough either one of the openings 20, previously mentioned. With theparts arranged as hown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it is evident that thebrakechain clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 which pis the usualdirection employed in hand 7 the ratchet wheel 12 turned over and thenbrakes for railwaycars. When it is desired to adapt the brake mechanismfor. lefthand operation, the parts are disassembled and applied to thesquared section of the staff which will bring the teeth 14 thereof so asl to face in-the opposite'dire'ction as indicated in Fig; 4. The lockingdog 36 is also reversed in position so as to extend therelease "handle37 through the opposite opening 20 to that through which it extends inthe ary rangement shown inFig. 2. The spring 40 I will becorrespondingly shifted; In this a connection, it will be understoodthat the structure of the locking dog 36 issymmetri- V cal on eitherside of a horizontally extending central plane therethroughf The pawl 29is also reversed within thehandle 28 to the posit-ion shown in Fig. 4.When these parts are arranged as last described, it is evident that thebrake staff 10 can be rotated in always project the pawl outward into acounterclockwise or lefthand direction to effect application of thebrakes.

ated brake. The parts are of simple construction and'o f no greaterexpense than other types of hand brakes heretofore proposed and whichare direction.

I am aware thatvarious changes and operable only in one modificationsmay be made in the details of construction without departing fromthespirit of the invention and all such changes and modifications arecontemplated .that come within the scope of'the claims appended hereto;

' I claim:

1. In a hand brake, thecombination with an element adapted to be rotatedto effect tightening of the brake chain; of a ratchet wheel. associatedwith said element and adapted to be positioned with respect thereto tohave the ratchet teeth thereof face'in either direction; of a pawlcooperable with said ratchet wheel, the operative position of the pawlbeing also reversible; a supporting bracket; anda locking dog mounted onthe bracket and cooperable with the ratchet wheel, the operativeposition of said looking dog on the bracketbeing also reversible 21h ahand brake" of the characterdescribed, vthe combination with) a verticalbrake staff adapted to berotated to effect windin of the brake chain; ofa ratchet wheel cetachably-associated, with said staff andladaptedi tobenon-ro'tatably applied :thereto with the teethfacing in eitherdirecnon; of a carrier oscillatably supported with is wound up byrotating thestafl' 10 in a respect to ftheratchetlwheel and stafi'; a

gravity drop handle pivotall connected to erative position reversed withrespect to the ratchet wheel; a supporting bracket; and. a

locking dog mount'ed on the bracketand cooperable with the "ratchetwheel, the operative position of said Iocking dog onthe bracket beingalso reversible.

in a hand brake of scribed, the combination withfla vertical brake stafiadapted; to-be'grotated to effect winding ofltheibrake' chain; ofaratchet wheel detachablymountedon said staff and the character deiio.

adapted to be nonrotatably secfured thereto o pivotally mounted in saidhousing adapted to, have itsoperative osition reversed to cooperate withthe ratchet wheel in either of a with theteeth-facing infeitherdirection; of a housing providing a journalfbearing for the staff andratchet wheel ,a locking dog' the latters positions; a carrieroscillatablymounted with respect to the ratchetwheeli an operatinghandle pivotall mounted on the carrier; and a pawl sli ably mounted inthe handle, said pawl being adapted to cooperate with the ratchet wheeland arranged to have the operative osition thereof reversed with respectto t e handle.

4. In a hand brake of the character described, the combination with avertical brake staff; of a ratchet wheel. detachably and non-rotatablyassociated with thestaff, the position of said ratchet wheel beingreverslble with respect to the staff so as to present the ratchet teeththereof facing in either direction; a housing; a locking dog pivotallymounted in said housing and adapted to be positioned on its pivot totion; a carrier oscillatably mounted with respect to the ratchet wheeland stafl a gravity drop handle pivotally mounted on the carrier; and aspring-controlled pawl slidably mounted in the handle, the operativeposition of the pawl withrespect to the handle being reversible in rightor lefthand oscillation.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 17th day of June, 1920.

' 7 WILLIAM A. GEIGER. Witnesses:

CARRY GAILING.

UNA G. GRIosBY.

